Long-nosed Sucker ; Northern Sucker 



Long-nosed Sucker; Northern Sucker 

 Catostomus catostomus (Forster) 



The long-nosed sucker is one of the largest of the family, 

 reaching a length of 2 to 2\ feet, and a weight of several 

 pounds. It is found from the St. Lawrence River and the Great 

 Lakes westward in the Upper Missouri basin and to the Upper 

 Columbia, -thence northward to Alaska; the most widely dis- 

 tributed sucker; but probably not occurring south of 40 north 

 latitude, except in West Virginia where recently obtained by Prof. 

 W. P. Hay. 



In the Great Lakes and northward this species is a food 

 fish of considerable value. It is usually taken in hoop or trap 

 nets, or gillnets. 



Its spawning time is in the spring, in most localities as 

 early as May. 



Head 4\ to 4f; depth 4^ to 6; eye 6 to 8; D. 10 or n; 

 A. 7; scales 14 to 17-90 to 117-13. Body elongate, subterete; 

 head very long and slender, depressed and flattened above, 

 broad at base, but tapering into a long snout, which overhangs 

 the large mouth; lips thick, coarsely tuberculate, the upper lip 

 narrow, with 2 or 3, sometimes 4 rows of papillae; lower lip 

 deeply incised, the lobes shorter than in C. griseus, and the 

 mouth narrower; lower jaw with a slight cartilaginous sheath; 

 eye small, behind middle of head; scales very small, much 

 crowded anteriorly. 



Males in spring with the head and anal fin profusely tuber- 

 culate, and the side with a broad, rosy band. 



49 



